KHN: I Don’t Have Children, So Why Do I Have To Buy Pediatric Dental Insurance?

Q. My husband is self-employed and currently has an individual plan. I recently received a letter that said that he must purchase pediatric dental insurance, and if he doesn't provide proof that he has it they will automatically enroll him in a plan. We don't have children, so why would we have to have pediatric dental insurance?

Their answer begins:

A. Under the health care law, starting in January new individual and small-group health plans must cover 10 so-called essential health benefits. The
list of required benefits was developed following a process that
solicited input from consumer groups and members of the public,
employers, states, insurers, and medical and policy experts. The final
list reflects a core package of benefits that it was determined everyone
should have access to, even though most people may not use every single
benefit. It includes hospitalization and prescription drugs, maternity
and newborn care, mental health and substance abuse services, emergency
care and doctor visits, as well as pediatric services, including vision and dental services for children.

KHN also notes that "people are not required to buy separate pediatric dental coverage if they buy a plan on the state health insurance marketplaces, or exchanges, unless their state specifically requires it."

So perhaps (paradoxically), someone can avoid this requirement by purchasing within the government exchange.

However, the broader problem of mandatory "essential health benefits" still applies. Why should single men have to purchase maternity benefits? Why should a teetotaller purchase substance abuse treatment benefits they don't need and will never use?

(Note: The problem of mandatory insurance benefits preceded ObamaCare, mostly enforced at the state level. But ObamaCare partially federalizes this problem and expands this.)

About FIRM

America was founded on the principles of freedom and individual rights. Applied to medicine, the law must respect the individual rights of doctors and other providers, allowing them the freedom to practice medicine. This includes the right to choose their patients, to determine the best treatment for their patients, and to bill their patients accordingly. In the same manner, the law must respect the individual rights of patients, allowing them the freedom to seek out the best doctors and treatment they can afford.

Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine (FIRM) promotes the philosophy of individual rights, personal responsibility, and free market economics in health care. FIRM holds that the only moral and practical way to obtain medical care is that of individuals choosing and paying for their own medical care in a capitalist free market. Federal and state regulations and entitlements, we maintain, are the two most important factors in driving up medical costs. They have created the crisis we face today.

Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine was founded by Lin Zinser and Paul Hsieh, MD in 2007. It is now managed by Paul Hsieh, MD.